Quotes from Eleanor Roosevelt
Action
“The advantage of being busy is that you don’t have time to think about yourself.”
“A woman cannot meet adequately the needs of those who are nearest to her if she has no interests, no friends, no occupations of her own.”
“We create vacuums for ourselves by sheer apathy.”
“Nobody really does anything alone…it is only by inducing others to go along that changes are accomplished and work is done.
Age
“Beautiful young people are accidents of nature but beautiful old people are works of art.”
“Age needs the company of youth”
Children
“Unless indoctrinated, a child is too logical to understand discrimination.”
“I think I would rather spoil a child a little and have more fun out of it.”
“Because they have so little, children must rely on imagination rather than experience. They naturally live in a dream world. ”
Encouragement
“Do one thing everyday that scares you.”
“Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, ‘It can’t be done.’”
“Do the things you think you cannot do.”
“Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway.
You’ll be damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”
“Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
“Do not even attempt a job if you do not plan to do the best you know how.”
“Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier.”
“You are unique. No one can tell you how to use your time. It is yours. Your life is your own. You mold it. You make it.
Future
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
“Whatever comes, we have to meet it.”
Gossip
“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”
Hope
“It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”
“To leave the world richer—that is the ultimate success.”
Justice
“Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.”
Live for the Day
“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.”
“…unless time is good for something, it is good for nothing.”
“Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product.”
“Those years, weeks, hours, are the sands in the glass running swiftly away. To let them drift through our fingers is a tragic waste. To use them to the hilt, making them count for something is the beginning of wisdom.”
“Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.”
Mistakes
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
Peace/War
“It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. It isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”
“In the end we all want the same thing. We all want peace.”
Relationships
“It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself.”
“Love can often be misguided and do as much harm as good, but respect can do only good.”
“…the most important thing in any relationship is not what you get but what you give.”
“The knowledge of how little you can do alone teaches you humility.”
“It is a major part of maturity to accept not only your own shortcomings but those of the people you love, and help them not to fail when you can.”
Women
“A woman is like a teabag—you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.”
“Women have one advantage over men. Throughout history they have been forced to make adjustments.”
Quotes taken from the works of Eleanor Roosevelt, www.quotationspage.com, and The Quotable Eleanor Chandler Roosevelt Lindsley and The Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission, NY, 2007.
